Man convicted in bat attack on Michigan family

A 21-year-old man was convicted of murder Friday for his role in a 2012 baseball bat attack on his friend's family in suburban Detroit.

AP

A 21-year-old man was convicted of murder Friday for his role in a 2012 baseball bat attack on his friend's family in suburban Detroit.

Mitchell Young was found guilty of first-degree murder, assault with intent to murder and other charges by an Oakland County jury. He's expected to be sentenced July 25 to life in prison without parole.

Young was friends with Tucker Cipriano, who earlier this month pleaded no contest to charges he killed his father and injured his mother and brother with a baseball bat in the attack. Cipriano, 20, is scheduled for sentencing July 9.

According to authorities, the young men broke into the family's Farmington Hills house in April 2012, intending to rob the home before fleeing the state. Their attorneys have said they were under the influence of synthetic marijuana.

The attack killed Robert Cipriano and injured his wife, Rose, and their son, Sal.

In a statement released through the prosecutor's office, a Cipriano family member said the legal process worked but that "no verdict could bring closure."

"It is a part of our everyday reality," wrote Robert Cipriano's brother, Ron Cipriano. "There is never closure in a situation like this. It merely closes this chapter and lets us focus everything we have on the continued healing of our family physically, mentally and emotionally."

The tragedy will remain with the family, he said.

"At the end of the day, Bob — our brother, father, neighbor, colleague, coach and friend — is still gone from our lives forever. His absence can never be replaced and no trial will ever change that."